Riley’s has furnished area homes for 30 years

MILLERTON — Tom Riley purchased Bloch’s Furniture in September 1985 — after he’d worked at the store for 28 years. The business has continued to grow and thrive as Riley’s Furniture and Flooring. This year, the family-run store at the Grand Union plaza celebrates its 30th anniversary. 

Riley’s has called three different locations home during its 30 years in operation. Its original location was where Little Gates Wine Merchants now is on Main Street in Millerton. It then moved across the street to the building that is now home to the Millerton Antiques Center. It moved back to the Little Gates location, then moved to the plaza on Route 44 on the Millerton/North East border (Millerton is a village in the town of North East).

That was a key move, according to Riley. 

“Once we moved up here, because we could display our furniture so much better, business increased dramatically,” he said.

Riley’s offers complete home furnishings for the bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen and patio, as well as a full line of flooring and bedding. But it’s the fact that his family is working by his side that Riley said is most important.

“It’s been a family business ever since I bought it,” he said proudly, listing the jobs his family has held in the business. “Brian is our top salesman and joined when I bought the business, and Jeff and Greg came into the business when they were in high school. Jeff is our floor installer and Greg and Brian are in sales. My daughter, Cindy Dunleavy, worked with me for 28 years.”

In total Riley’s has seven full-time employees. Last year Tom’s wife, Louise, joined the staff. She’s in charge of operations.

“It’s been wonderful,” said Brian. “It’s very rewarding. Everybody on the street is always talking to each other and we provide a service to everybody locally and beyond. But the biggest local benefit is that we have a close rapport with our customers.”

Riley’s serves not only Dutchess County but also Columbia County, Litchfield County, the Berkshires, New Jersey and even New York City.

“Because of weekenders, people have become customers in their weekend homes and then ask if we could deliver to them in the city,” Riley said.

The company takes pride in giving back to the community, by donating new and used goods and services to support community members.

“We like to help out people in their times of need,” Brian Riley said. “We recently helped a family who lost their home; they lost everything. It meant the world to them and we felt good knowing we were really helping somebody.”

“We also donated to a family of Iraqi refugees recently that came into Torrington; we donated beds to that family,” Louise Riley said.

To celebrate their customers and the community, Riley’s is going to have an anniversary sale and party during Columbus Day weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 10, at the store.

Brian Riley said as they celebrate their accomplishments he hopes those in the community will take a moment to recognize that the store is a handy local resource.

“We’re constantly changing and evolving,” he said. “We used to sell traditional, now we’re more contemporary. We’re always growing with the trends of the industry.”

One challenge has been keeping up with social media to attract new customers.

“Over the years we’ve had a very loyal following,” Louise Riley said, “but getting on social media is very important.”

Riley’s is at 122 Route 44 in Millerton and the phone number is 518-789-4641.